Super sleuth Elliotte Friedman told Sportsnet 960 Calgary Thursday that there were multiple suitors for Tyler Myers and Evander Kane.
When it was all said and done Myers wound up in Winnipeg and Kane in Buffalo.
The price of poker was high.
"I definitely believe that Buffalo asked other teams for more than that, but I don’t think anybody was willing to do it.
“I was with Vancouver yesterday in Chicago. I got the sense that the Canucks – they were in it, but it was really half-hearted. They weren’t including Horvat. They weren’t including Virtanen. They weren’t including Jared McCann, who’s a young defenceman they’ve got. When they saw what Buffalo traded, their reaction was, ‘We weren’t even in the same ballpark.’
“The Kings were involved at some point with Myers. Buffalo asked I think for Toffoli, or to be included, and they’re like, ‘We’re not doing that.’
“Detroit, we know that they had asked for either Anthony Mantha and Dylan Larkin, and Detroit was, ‘We’re not doing that.’
“Now Calgary from what I’ve heard, and I haven’t spoken to Brad Treliving, but from what I’ve heard, Calgary was in on both Myers and Kane. They would let them know we would like to be involved. But I think the ask for both teams was very similar. It was one of Bennett and Monahan, plus. And I’m sure they probably asked for both because you can’t shoot a team for asking. But it was one of those two guys, plus more. And the Flames just aren’t going to do that, and you can’t blame them, because when you trade a center, what’s the next thing you’re saying? "We need a center" and I just don’t think Calgary was going to do it if it was going to cost them Sam Bennett or Sean Monahan.”
I hate to say I told you so, but.....
I told you months ago that the Sabres were serious about wanting to acquire Anthony Manta
from the Red Wings. Ken Holland will now shift his attention to acquiring Toronto's UFA to be Cody Franson.
Also, I told you that LA wanted Myers badly, however, Dean Lombardi was not willing to send Toffoli back to Buffalo as part of a package.
Regarding Kane, the Canucks were not willing to trade top prospects to Winnipeg so the Kane Train left the station. The Flames were not willing to part with Sam Bennett and Sean Monahan so they missed out on Kane.
When Vancouver, B.C. native Evander Kane was benched in his hometown, Canucks GM Jim Benning inquired with the Jets as to the power forward's availability. Benning, the first year GM of the Nucks, is looking to add a veteran scoring winger to his lineup.
But, he had a limit that he would not allow himself exceed with regard to trading for Kane.
Benning was guest on TSN 1040 in Vancouver this fternoon and explained how close the Canucks really were to acquiring Kane.
As a stand-alone piece, or a one for one trade, Benning was all-in. However, when Buffalo GM included multiple pieces, and prospects Joel Armia and Brenden Lemieux to the deal, Benning tapped out.
In the end, Benning was not interested in mortgaging his club's future by trading any of his top three prospects in Bo Horvat, Jake Virtanen, and Jared McCann.
"We were talking to Winnipeg, I was talking to Chevy. But when I was talking to him, it was more of a stand-alone. It was just Evander Kane. When it got to the point where there was multiple players involved, we weren’t in any sort of deal like that.
“Evander Kane, he’s a Vancouver boy. He grew up playing around here. He’s a good hockey player. So I wanted to make sure we did our due diligence and contacted him just to see if he could figure something out for him.
“He sent me a text Wednesday morning saying that he was involved in a bigger deal and that we were out. And it really did turn out to be a big deal, so we weren’t in it to the extent the deal he made.”
Listen to the full interview here:
How Close Was Canucks GM Jim Benning To Executing Evander Kane Trade? http://t.co/1fSyK7eRaW
Fresh off his torrid, all-tournament performances at the recently concluded IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, Sabres center Samson Reinhart was a guest on Sabres Hockey Hotline on Thursday morning. Reinhart propelled Team Canada to the gold medal on home soil.
Reinhart surprised the Hell out of me when he said that Connor McDavid is the best linemate that he has played with in his international hockey career for Team Canada. Reinhart said that he hopes that the Sabres can select him first overall to Buffalo in the June entry draft.
Harry Neale took the words out of my mouth when he asked Samson if he's spending time in the gym and working on his body. Samson said that he is dedicated to his gym work outs and he is making gains in his strength and conditioning program. When the Sabres sent Reinhart back to Kootenay it wasn't because of his hockey skills. It was to allow him time to pump the weights and to build his body so that he can endure the perpetual pounding of the NHL.
Thanks, Sabres Hockey Hotline
***
Drew Stafford is no NHL pigeon. He's been around the rinks for the past nine seasons. He's seen former teammates with expiring contracts traded at the NHL trade deadline. That's how it works. If the team doesn't have plans for you, they trade you before you become UFA. NHL GMs get tarred and feathered, some fired, for failure to get market trade value for players who are pending UFAs. Last February, Sabres GM Tim Murray traded two of Stafford's friends, Ryan Miller and Steve Ott, before the NHL trade deadline. On Wednesday, Stafford was traded for the first time in his NHL career. The former 13th overall pick in the 2004 entry draft gave nine years of loyal service to the Sabres. He knew that once Murray didn't offer him a contract extension that he would be traded. The waiting was the hardest part for Stafford. He watched his teammates check their Twitter feeds on a daily basis to see if his name was involved in trade rumors. Better for Staff that he gave up his Twitter habit years ago before it became a utility. So on Wednesday morning, Stafford showed up at the rink as he had done habitually for the past nine seasons. Ted Nolan cancelled the on-ice practice session. Tim Murray then informed Stafford that he and Myers had been traded to Winnipeg. Murray will be having similar conversations in the next two and a half weeks with pending UFAs Chris Stewart, Torrey Mitchell, Tyson Strachan, Andre Benoit, and Andrej Meszaros. I believe that the team is going to be re-signing Pat Kaleta before the July 1 UFA period opens.
Stafford took it all in stride. He's a pro. He knows the ropes. He's seen Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, Ryan Miller, Steve Ott, and other Sabres teammates get traded. Now its his turn. He's 29 years old now. Its time for him to turn the page and start anew. He said his goodbyes to the boys in the room and the training staff. Then grabbed his equipment bag and headed home to break the news to his wife. There, he and his wife had to figure out a plan for themselves and their five week old baby boy. Shortly thereafter, Stafford and Myers found themselves at the Buffalo airport where they boarded a jet to Atlanta. They shuttled for the ATL to Smashville where they joined their new teammates at the team hotel.
Getting traded sucks. There's no easy way to adjust to it. Its probably best to just grin and bear it. It was best for Stafford and Myers to get their gear and head out immediately to meet their new team in Nashville.
This morning, Stafford met his new head coach Paul Maurice, then proceeded to skate on a wing Mark Scheifele and Matthieu Perreault. Talk about a Buffalo good luck charm. Perreault?! Nice.
I like Stafford's chances to regain his scoring touch playing alongside the two young playmakers. Gone will be the feeling of dread and failure. Now, Stafford can summon his ghosts of playoffs past to help his new team improve its playoff seeding in the next two months of the NHL season.
Thanks, Jets TV
I'll give you my prediction:
Stafford will bust his ass and find his scoring and playmaking skills again in this tryout period with the Jets. I think he'll impress his new GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and Paul Maurice enough to earn himself a new long term contract in The Peg this summer. Staff is a Milwaukee kid who attended the University of North Dakota. He lives and trains in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul in the summers. He's great friends with Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler, and most of the guys in the Jets' room. His easy going personality, ball-busting sense of humor and his hard work ethic will make him a favorite in the Winnipeg room.
Stafford doesn't want to be remembered for posterity as the throw-in guy in the Evander Kane-Zach Bogosian-Tyler Myers trade. Stafford is an intensely prideful man who doesn't want to be known as a former 30 goals scorer and a sweetener to a blockbuster trade. Knowing Staff the way that I do, he is going to rededicate himself to the game of hockey. He'll admit that he's allowed a lot of the outside noise and pressure from the fans , media and Sabres brass rattle his cage the past few seasons. Buffalo was an Eastern Conference championship team when he cracked the lineup and they have sadly taken a nosedive in the ensuing years of his Buffalo career. Stafford deserves another chance in the NHL. He wants to silence his critics. He's earned it.
Give 'em Hell, Staff!
***
Tyler Myers answered his cell phone on Wednesday morning when he got to the rink for practice. It was his agent. Myers had just been traded to the Winnipeg Jets as part of a blockbuster trade.
Myers will play tonight with Toby Enstrom, who he met during the NHL lockout when both me were playing in the Austrian Elite Hockey League.
Thanks, Jets TV
Myers has been playing his most inspired brand of hockey of the season in the past month. I look forward to watching him take the puck 200 feet in Winnipeg.
Myers is a good man. Like Stafford, he allowed a lot of negativity and chatter to enter his head space in the past couple of seasons. It doesn't matter if its house hockey or the NHL. Losing sucks. Myers is prone to long bouts of self doubt and losses of confidence. I hope for his sake that he blocks out all of the bullsh*t, ticky tack drama and gets pissed off at his opponents. He and Stafford have been granted second chances at NHL success. I'm betting my money that Myers will make an immediate, positive impact on the Winnipeg Jets roster. Not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs, too.
Myers doesn't need self help and self affirmation books. He needs to get pissed off at the guys in the other colored sweaters. Maybe Big Byfuglien will take Myers top to the buffet for lunch. Myers will tell you that the hardest thing for him to do is to add mass and muscle. Horse crap! He needs to take a lesson in calorie consumption for Big Buff! Then he'll be a feared man in the NHL.
Hell hath no fury like a Tyler Myers scorned!
Kick ass and take names, big man!
***
Tim Murray has been an unabashed fan of Evander Kane ever since he first set scouting eyes upon the young power forward. Kane has a unique suite of hockey skills that includes sick hand-eye coordination, a great shot, elite level speed and the ability to score and play the heaviest form of hockey. Murray knew at first sight that Kane was a special player. That's why when Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff reached out to Murray last week to talk about a trade for Kane, Murray was all ears. Chevy and Murray were a match made in heaven. The Jets GM had a problem player that he needed to find a new home for, preferably in the Eastern Conference. Chevy had to bench Kane after the sweat suit caper in Couver, and he had an urgent need to trade Kane away in order to risk further fracturing inside his cohesive room. Murray, the owner of a ton of organizational prospects, three first round picks, unlimited salary cap space, and available roister players, immediate accepted Cheveldayoff's call. I have to assume that Murray's good friend, Craig Oster, who also acts as Kane's player agent facilitated the conversation between Murray and Cheveldayoff. Its no secret that Muray has coveted Kane for years. I had heard that Murray tried to make a trade to bring Kane to Ottawa when he was the AGM there a couple years ago.
Chevy had an itch. Murray had the scratch.
Murray was not scared off by the B.S. and smack flying out of Winnipeg regarding Kane. Murray knows the kid and his agent. He didn't once believe the hype and hyperbole being broadcast around the hockey world that Kane was a bad character guy. Murray instead chalked it up to the kid needing a ticket out of The Peg to Buffalo. The Buffalo GM didn't need to grill Kane or read him the riot act before he and Cheveldayoff executed the biggest trade of his NHL GM career. Murray was and is confident that Kane will assimilate into the Buffalo culture and play a huge on-ice and off ice leadership role for the Sabres next season and in the years to come.
On Wednesday February 11, the Buffalo Sabres the building process became the remodeling project. Strategically and tactically, Murray added two 23 year old NHL veterans in Kane and Bogosian.
Murray told Hockey Central @ Noon on Thursday that he is convinced that Kane will be a viotal cog bin the remodeling and re-positioning of the Buffalo Sabres brand.
Thanks, Sportsnet
In the final analysis, Buffalo needs Kane just as badly as Kane needs Buffalo.
It took Murray seven years, but he finally got his man.
Kane needs Buffalo as badly as Buffalo needs Kane.
The Queen City and Kane will now live happily Evander after.